Defense, Frasure help Red Devils take Backyard Brawl
- Staff
- Aug 31
- 5 min read
LLOYD — A three touchdown game from Jayden Frasure and a staunch defensive effort helped lead the Russell Red Devils to a 28-15 win over the Greenup County Musketeers in the annual Backyard Brawl rivalry game on Friday night.
The win also marked Russell's first win in the rivalry game since 2021 and the return of the traveling trophy.
"It's a rivalry game. I thought we came out and played hard again," said Russell coach T.J. Maynard. "We took the lead in at halftime 21-0. We had to kinda calm them down at halftime and get them to understand that it's a four quarter game and Greenup's going to come out and fight. And Greenup did exactly that."
Starting in his first game at quarterback last week, Frasure turned in a solid performance and helped lead the Red Devils to a win over a tough Coal Grove team.
Flash forward this Friday night, and Frasure continued to shine. The senior was a perfect 10 of 10 passing for 177 yards and two touchdowns through the air. On the ground, Frasure carried the ball 21 times for 76 yards and a score.
"(Jayden) did some really nice things. Couple times he got spooked and rolled out when he shouldn't. But again, he's doing really good. When you can get him on the move, (Jayden) is really good at making decisions."
The Pennington brothers led the Red Devils in receiving, with Cayden catching 2 passes for 81 yards and Jayden with one catch for 34 yards. Rowe had 29 yards on a team-high 3 receptions.
The defense came up big again for Russell, forcing two turnovers and making Greenup punt on all three of its first half possessions as they posted a 21-0 shutout at halftime.
Frasure's first huge play of the night came on the Red Devils' opening drive and facing a 3rd-and-19 from their own 14. A designed draw play for Frasure allowed the senior to weave his way down the field for a 22-yard gain to move the chains.
Then two plays later and again facing a 3rd-and-long situation, Frasure let a pass fly down the far sideline to a streaking Cayden Pennington for a 68-yard touchdown strike. Sam Totten split the uprights to give the Red Devils the early 7-0 lead.
The Red Devils would force Greenup (1-1) into another punt — one that turned out to be a shank of 12 yards — setting the offense up at midfield.
Russell (2-0) would need eight plays to find the end zone again, as Frasure followed the blocking on the left side of his offensive line to pay dirt for the score. Gavin Skaggs came on and added the point after to extend the lead to 14-0 with 4:32 remaining before halftime.
The drive was highlighted by two key pass plays. The first being a 3rd down conversion pass to Anderson Haggard out of the backfield. The second coming moments later, as Frasure rolled to his left and found Cayden Pennington again for a 13-yard gain to move the sticks again.
The defense came up with a stop on the Musketeers' following possession when senior linebacker Brody Smith swatted away pass on a middle screen played to the fullback, forcing Greenup to punt for third time in the first half.
Another short punt set the Russell offense up at the Greenup 45 with 2:50 left on the clock.
The Red Devils successfully converted two 3rd-and-long situations en route to another score.
The first conversion was on a third-and-12, Frasure rolled to his left, turned back and hit Kanenan Jacobs on a tightend screen for 13 yards and a first down.
Then Frasure found the other Pennington, Jayden, on a curl on 3rd-and-10. The senior speedster turned up the sideline and went untouched into the end zone for the touchdown. Totten added the extra point to give the Red Devils a 21-0 lead at the break.
In the third, the momentum began to shift a little, as the Musketeer defense came up with their first big play of the game on the first play of the half. A blitz caused Christian Wheeler to come free and knock the ball loose from Frasure, and Landry Lewis was there to pounce on the ball at the 28.
Greenup made good on the turnover, with an 8-play scoring drive that culminated with Jasper Davis diving in from 2-yards out for the first points of the game for Greenup. Carter Nunley added the extra point to make it 21-7 in favor of Russell.
"We could've took a few more shots in that second half. But the way the game was going, we just tried to manage it as best we could and not give (Greenup) them a big turnover and get back in the game," said Maynard.
The first big special teams play came from Shawn Deskins on the ensuing kickoff, as the sophomore returned the kick 47 yards into Greenup territory.
But despite a big first down off another screen pass from Frasure to Jordan Rowe to move the Red Devils further into Greenup territory, the drive stalled out and the Musketeers got the ball back with 3:43 remaining in the third frame.
Greenup drove all the way down to the Russell 20 before the defense finally came up with a key defensive stop.
On 1st-and-10, Davis tried to fight off a tackle from Tate Smith for extra yardage. But Rowe came in from his safety spot and freed the ball from Davis' grasp and ball was swallowed up by Smith, giving the ball back to Russell.
Smith followed up on the next Greenup possession with a sack on first down and an interception in front of the Russell bench to give the Red Devils the ball back at the Musketeer 43.
Russell cashed in on the takeaway, getting a 26-yard run from Lane Osborne on the first play from scrimmage. Then four plays later, Wyatt Hudson took a snap behind center and followed the left side of his line the final 7 yards in for the score. Skaggs added the extra point to put Russell ahead 28-7 with 4:22 left in the game.
Greenup managed one final score on a 14-yard run by Ashur Wireman and Davis ran in the two-point conversion, but it would be too little, too late.
The Musketeers were led offensively by Wireman with 64 yards rushing and a score. Davis had 38 yards rushing and 66 yards passing to go along with his score.
"We're learning here and getting better. Luckily, we've still able to get a W. So we need to keep improving and learning from our mistakes."
The Red Devils travel to Olive Hill next week to face West Carter.
Russell 14 7 0 7 = 28
Greenup Co. 0 0 7 8 = 15
First Quarter
Ru — Cayden Pennington 68 pass from Jayden Frasure (Sam Totten kick), 1:27.
Ru — Jayden Frasure 1 run (Gavin Skaggs kick), 4:32.
Second Quarter
Ru — Jayden Pennington 34 pass from Jayden Frasure (Sam Totten kick), 0:454.
Third Quarter
GC — Jasper Davis 2 run (Carter Nunley kick), 8:23.
Fourth Quarter
Ru — Wyatt Hudson 7 run (Gavin Skaggs kick), 4:22.
GC — Ashur Wireman14 run (Jasper Davis run), 2:51.
———
Ru GC
First downs 15 10
Rushes-yards 36-132 30-109
Passing yards 177 66
Total yards 309 175
Cmp-Att-Int 10-10-0 5-14-1
Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-1
Penalties-yards 7-60 6-45
Punts-average 1-32.0 3-22.34
———
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – Russell: Jordan Rowe 10-19, Wyatt Hudson 1-7 TD, Jayden Frasure 21-76 TD, Anderson Haggard 2-mins 1 Lane Osborne 2-31; Greenup County: Jasper Davis 14-38 TD, Noah Clarkson 1-3, Eric Campbell 1-4, Ashur Wireman 14-64 TD.
PASSING – Russell: Jayden Frasure 10-10-0 177 2TD; Greenup County: Jasper Davis 5-14-1 66.
RECEIVING – Russell: Jordan Rowe 3-29, Kanenan Jacobs 2-15, Anderson Haggard 2-18, Jayden Pennington 1-34 TD, Cayden Pennington 2-81 TD; Greenup County: Tyler Johnson 1-16, Ashur Wireman 1-10, Landry Lewis 1-16, Kasey Gammon 2-24.
MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.
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